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Saturday, June 30, 2012

OMB Approves TWIC ICR Extension

On Thursday the Office of Management and Budget approved
the TSA’s request for a renewal of the information collection request that
supports the Transportation Worker’s Identification Credential (TWIC)
application process. OMB approved the ICR, but only until October 31st
of this year.

This renewal was
requested last summer and would normally have resulted in a three year
approval of the ICR. Because of the recently
announced change in the TWIC renewal requirements OMB provided only a
temporary extension of the ICR noting that:

“TSA should submit an Emergency
Information Collection Request, to reflect changes to the program and burden
hours that will result from the Exemption Notice published in the Federal
Register on June 19, 2012 (49 CFR Part 1572 [Docket No. TSA–2006–24191]).”

The long time period between the submission of this ICR and
its limited approval indicates that the OMB has long been aware of the DHS
intention to provide some sort of relief on the TWIC renewal process pending
the eventual approval of a TWIC Reader rule.

About Me

Patrick Coyle is a freelance writer dealing with chemical security and safety issues. He has 15 years experience in the US Army with extensive experience in training development, delivery and evaluation. He spent 20 years working in the chemical process industry developing and improving chemical manufacturing processes with a large emphasis on chemical and process safety. He currently writes a daily blog, the Chemical Facility Security News, examining the issues associated with the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards administered by the Department of Homeland Security.